The present invention relates to a carton and a cushion member/receptacle to be placed in the carton to protect the contents of the carton. More particularly, the invention relates to a carton and a cushion member used to package fragile articles such as bottles of perfume or anti-aging cream, for example.
Such fragile articles/products are generally of high value and therefore, breakages during transit or sale are costly and hence undesirable to the manufacturer and seller. One way of combating breakages is to provide a space around the article within the carton which may crumple upon impact, thereby dissipating energy such that the article contained within remains intact. Furthermore, purchasers of such products generally expect that the packaging should be commensurate with the quality and value of the article, and that the article be attractively presented within the packaging.
One example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,835,428 to Herzog discloses an inner and outer carton arrangement, the inner carton being arranged to be spaced from the walls of the outer carton and having a separate lid section that engages within slots provided in the upper edges of the inner carton.
Herzog however fails to provide means for retaining articles within the inner carton and the risk of the articles breaking upon impact with a wall of the inner carton exists. In addition, a complex arrangement of spacers is required to maintain the inner carton in a central position in relation to the outer carton, which inevitably adds to the cost and complexity of manufacturing the carton.
The present invention and its preferred embodiments seek to overcome or at least mitigate the problems of the prior art.
One aspect of the invention provides a package for packaging fragile articles. The package comprises an outer carton and a receptacle for placement into the outer carton. The receptacle comprises an article supporting platform and upper and lower spacer structures provided to space the platform from the base, top, side and end walls of the outer carton. One or each of the upper and lower spacer structures comprises a pair of spacer members extending mutually divergently from the platform such that each of the spacer members terminate at an intersection of an adjacent pair of the walls of the outer carton.
According to an optional feature of this aspect of the invention, each of the upper and lower spacer structures may comprise a pair of mutually divergently extending spacer members. The each upper spacer member and an adjacent lower spacer member are hingedly connected to the platform along laterally juxtaposed fold lines respectively.
Preferably, the platform is a composite comprising upper and lower platform panels placed in face contacting relationship.
In one class of embodiments, a top protection panel is hingedly connected to the upper spacer structure so as to protect the article to be placed in the receptacle. Optionally, the upper spacer structure comprises a spacer member hingedly connected to the platform, the top protection panel being hingedly connected to the upper spacer member along the upper edge of the upper spacer member.
One or each spacer structure may be provided with an aperture to receive a portion of the article to retain the article in position on the platform.
According to another optional feature of this aspect of the invention, spacer members are arranged in adjacent positions and are hingedly connected to the platform along substantially perpendicularly arranged fold lines.
The side edges of the adjacent spacer members may be interconnected by a gusset structure. Optionally, the gusset structure is arranged to project outwardly of the receptacle. Preferably, the gusset structure engages a corner of the outer carton defined by the intersection of an adjacent pair of the side and end walls of the outer carton.
According to a further optional feature of this aspect of the invention, at least one of the upper and lower spacer structures comprises a pair of trapezoidal flaps each adapted to be engaged with at least two adjacent side walls of the outer carton.
A second aspect of the invention provides a cushion member for placement into an outer carton comprising an article supporting platform having upper and lower spacer members extending upwardly and downwardly from the platform to be engaged respectively with the top and bottom walls of the outer carton, wherein the upper and lower spacer members are hinged to the platform along two juxtaposed fold lines respectively.
According to an optional feature of the second aspect of the invention, the platform may be a composite structure comprising upper and lower platform panels placed in face contacting relationship, and the upper and lower spacer members may be hinged to the upper and lower platform panels respectively.
According to another optional feature of the second aspect of the invention, a top protection panel may be hingedly connected to the upper spacer member so as to protect an article to be placed on the platform.
According to a further optional feature of the second aspect, the upper spacer member may be provided with an aperture for receiving a portion of an article to retain the article in position on the platform.
According to a further optional feature of the second aspect, a second upper spacer member may be provided to extend upwardly from the platform. The upper spacer members may be disposed in adjacent positions and may be hingedly connected to the platform along substantially perpendicularly arranged fold lines. Preferably, the side edges of the upper spacer members are interconnected by a gusset structure which may be arranged to project outwardly of the cushion member.